Where Leaders Are Made
CLUB NO. 1571590
AREA 12, DIVISION E, DISTRICT 20, DOHA-QATAR

EDITOR'S NOTE
Dear Reader,

TM Najmuddin

We chose this as the cover
story for this edition because
we strongly believe that the
health of every Toastmasters
Club depends on the active
participation of its members.

If members are active, the club is active. There are
always ups & downs in the Club memberships. When
KEF Toastmasters Club was formed in 2009, we had
20 members. That went up to 39 members within one
year. Currently we have 26 members. Some members
come with a short term goal of becoming a confident
speaker. As soon as they complete the 10 projects from
the Competent Communicator manual, they achieve
this objective. Then we don’t see them. Another group
of members want to learn the leadership skills. They
continue longer. They take up Club Excom roles, Area
& Division roles and learn the finer tricks of leadership.
KEF Toastmasters is fortunate to have many leaders of
this type.

In this edition, we also have many other interesting
articles such as “Meeting the Metroman” by our
Founder President NV Raghavan DTM and an
interview with a dedicated Toastmaster Couple titled
“ 10 Questions to a Toastmaster Couple”. We have
dedicated a few pages to our Gaveliers to show their
talents such as painting & poetry. Hope you will enjoy
all that we have put together for you.
As this Toastmaster year (July 01 to June 30) is coming
to an end, I wish to say “Good Bye” to all the members
as you will be seeing a new Editor, next year. All I
can say is that I really enjoyed my term as the Vice
President-Public Relations and learned a lot as the
Editor of ENGINEER, the pride of KEF Toastmasters
Club.
Happy Reading & Happy Toastmasters New Year (on
July 01st).
Your’s truly
TM Najmuddin -- Editor / ENGINEER

Cultural Academy, Behind Gulf Times, Doha,Qatar. This newsletter
is published for the internal circulation among the members of KEF
Toastmasters Club and to promote the ideas and goals of Toastmasters
International.
Publisher or Editor does not take the
responsibility for the authenticity/opinion of
the articles/authors, published.
Toastmasters International and its logos are
trademarks registered in the USA, Canada
and many other countries.

othing is impossible â&#x20AC;&#x153;is one of the most inspiring
one-liners that we come across in our life. If we can
believe and take it in your mind, then really you can
do wonders in life.
80th meeting of KEF Toastmasters was held on 03-03-2014 at the
Telugu Cultural Centre (TCA).
The meeting started at 7.30 PM as per the agenda. TM Murugesan
who was the Sergeant at Arms started the meeting with a crisp
introduction and handed over the stage to the President TM
Abdul Wahid. The President declared the meeting open and asked
everyone to observe a minute of silence as a humble gesture of
respect and prayers for the 12 people who were killed in the gas
explosion in Doha on 27th February. He also welcomed our new
member to the club TM Thanigaivelu and guests Mr. Yogesh and
Mr. Jawahar. Then the President invited the Toastmaster of the
Day TM Najmuddin to take over the charge of the meeting.

4

ENGINEER - KEF TOASTMASTERS | MARCH 2014

NEWS
TM Najmuddin, who is also the VP-PR of the club, started
his proceedings as the TMOD by introducing the theme of
the meeting “Nothing is Impossible”. He narrated his bitter
experience of handling the subject "Probability" during his
graduation days and how tough it was for him to clear this
subject. By narrating this he took all of us to our own graduation
days where we all would have faced such hurdles and how we felt
some things as impossible to clear through. Holding the suspense
he quickly moved on to introducing role players of the meeting,
Grammarian- TM Gopu, Ah-counter - TM Ahnant, Timer - TM Vijo.
TMOD asked each of the role-players to narrate about their reallife incidents where they would have felt “Nothing is Impossible".
TM Gopu narrated how he completed his first 10km run which
he had felt impossible before. TM Ahnant and TM Vijo narrated
how they got into Engineering colleges which they believed was
impossible initially. TM Gopu, the grammarian, introduced the
word of the day :- "FUSTY" which meant old-fashioned, or old
architecture. The word can be used like “She climbed that fusty
stair case and then stood at the landing".
Once the roles of grammarian, ah-counter and timer were
explained TMOD invited TM Ashish to deliver his P10 speech
titled "Life Lessons". TM Murugesan was the evaluator for this
speech. TM Ashish, as cool as always, delivered the speech with
ease and it was evident that he had the full control over what he
was telling. He made sure that he used the word of the day in the
speech and completed the speech within the stipulated time.
Second speaker of the day was TM Vijo with his P4 speech in
the ACB manual (Story Telling). TM Vijo narrated a story which
threw light on the most important quality a human should have
"helping mentality". He narrated the story well and connected
it through a character named Brian. Brian can be anyone of us;
but Brian had the mind to help an old woman whose car tyre got
punctured and stranded in the middle of a highway during a rainy
day. How many of you have done what Brian did? When the old
woman took some money to give to Brian he tells “I didn't help
you to get money; but if you can help someone in need then that
would be the best return that you can give to me". Later the old
lady happens to see a pregnant woman to whom she donates
some money. Eventually the story ends up letting the audience
know that the pregnant lady was the wife of Brian, himself. The
crux of the story was what you give will come back to you.
TM Vijo was evaluated by TM Manzoor.

MARCH 2014 | KEF TOASTMASTERS

- ENGINEER

5

NEWS
Third speaker was none other than the President himself who presented the interpretive reading
technique. TM Wahid read the story of three daughters-in-law who were troubled by their motherin-law. The speech tested the voice modulation and presentation skills of the speaker. DTM Gil was
the evaluator and also gave a small education session about the voice modulation and importance of
varying the speed of word delivery.
Table topics session was conducted by TM Gopu, who did a themed session.
The theme was set as 70th Oscar Award Ceremony held in Los Angeles which witnessed the film Titanic
getting 11 awards. The table topics were given as role plays as the host of the function (TM Manzoor),
award presenter (DTM Gil) for the Best Director, as James Cameroon (TM Ashish) the receiver of Best
Director award and Leonardo Di Caprio (TM Vijo) who missed the Best Actor award.
Then the TMOD continued with his tragic story of "probability" and how he realized that "Nothing is
Impossible" with the help of his friend.
The General Evaluator, TM Murugesan delivered his comments on the day's meeting and took reports
from the role players. All the speakers completed their speeches within the stipulated time limits and
maintained good standards of grammatical usages.
Later the President took back the charge and informed the audience that TM Ashish has successfully
completed 10 speeches of his CC manual and he was given a standing ovation. Congratulations to TM
Ashish CC!
President also reminded all about the Area contests coming up on Friday 7th March at Red Cresent Hall,
Near Movenpick Old Salatha from 3 pm to 7 pm and requested the presence of each member to support
TM Rajiv Bhosale and TM Jyothikumar who will be representing our club in the contest. With that the
meeting was adjourned.

August 20, 2013, Along with
Keralite Engineer’s Forum’s Vice
Chairman Er.Hafiz Mohamed,
I stared the journey to meet the Metroman
Dr.E.Sridharan. After his retirement from the
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in 2012,
he is settled down in Ponnani in Malappuram
District. We reached his beautiful home at around
12 noon. We were made to sit in the beautifully
decorated drawing room. While entering the hall
we saw Dr. Sridharan attending to a phone call
in the adjacent room which is his home office.
Within a few minutes his wife Mrs.Radha came
in & greeted and informed us that Dr.Sridharan
will meet us as soon as he finishes the conference

8

call. During that time, my eyes were moving
around the room to see the pictures hung on the
walls. I could see pictures in which Dr.Sridharan
receiving the prestigious Padma Vibhushan from
the President of India and many more. There
enters Dr.Sridharan wearing a half sleeve white
shirt and white “mundu”. He immediately started
the conversation by asking us about which college
we are from and what are we doing in Qatar. We
explained about KEF and our activities in Qatar.
Then I went on to explain the purpose of our visit
that we wish to honour him with an award: “KEF
Technocrat of the Year 2013”. He readily accepted
our invitation agreed to visit Qatar to receive the
award.

ENGINEER - KEF TOASTMASTERS | MARCH 2014

During my conversation with his wife, I came
to know some more details about this great
personality. His day begins at 4 am. He meditates,
reads Baghavad Gita, listens to a spiritual
discourse, has a bath and breakfast, and gets into
his home office at 9.30 AM. There are meetings,
discussions and calls, unless he decides to
work from Kochi’s DMRC office, or when he is
travelling. In the evenings, after work, he takes a
long walk with his wife. “It’s family time,” he says.
Dr.Sreedharan might be 81, but there is little sign
of ageing. He walks fast, smiles often, and his
eyes glisten with curiosity while discussing any
engineering project. He gets in and out of a small
car with the agility and speed of a young man.
I have summarised certain points evolved during
our conversations as 5 lessons we must learn
from the life of this great Engineer. I’m sure
these lessons are very relevant to us, Engineers &
Project Managers managing very critical projects
in our respective organisations. They are:
Lesson 1: Let deadlines motivate you rather than
pressurize you.
Can we ever imagine ourselves taking up a task
whose deadline approaches twice as fast! It would
render us distressed and distraught. And maybe
we would try to find a route to evade and escape.
According to Dr.Sridharan we must look at the
deadline from a perspective of being a motivator
than a stressor. We may never know, it could bring
out the best in us!

Lesson 2: Start your day early, finish your day
early
When we have a busy schedule, we find it to be
an easy excuse not to do the daily exercise and
thereby neglecting our health. Inspite of handling
projects of such magnitude, Dr.Sreedharan is
known to never have stayed in the office beyond 6
PM, and has never liked people working late too.
He was simply disciplined and gave his hundred
percent when on the job. It is also known that
he is a very early riser, waking up at the crack of
dawn and retiring to bed early to allow himself the
required rest.
Lesson 3: Work with honesty, others will cooperate
Dr.Sreedharan has helped thousands of people
to success. But when asked, he has not claimed
a method to his leadership. He has simply done
his best, with full devotion and with a sense of
honesty. People have looked up to him and in
return have reciprocated by doing their best too.
He has set an example. People have followed. He
is a man who has led people by his personal power
though he wielded immense positional power.
Lesson 4: Believe in yourself, believe in the
impossible
Though we all have the potential, yet we may find
it difficult to answer ourselves whether we have
given our best always and been able to create
unprecedented results. Let us take inspiration
from Dr.Sreedharan’s life to do our best in all that
we take up, and achieve the unachievable. His
career has seen many occasions where he has
gone against the tide when he was convinced of

MARCH 2014 | KEF TOASTMASTERS

- ENGINEER

9

EDUCATION

His wife re-entered after few minutes and invited
us to have coffee & snacks in their dining room.
We were treated with a variety of snacks such
as “ela ada”, “vada” “payasam” and coffee.
Dr.Sridharan also joined us for the coffee &
snacks. His interest & knowledge on the Metro
projects around the world was so much that he
enquired about the progress of the Doha Metro to
us. Some of the personal qualities that impressed
me are his simplicity & humbleness. At the age of
81, the energy level he has cannot be matched by
any one of us.

He took up the daunting task to restore the
Pampan Bridge connecting Rameswaram with
the main land which was destroyed by cyclone
within a tight deadline of six months. By the time
he assumed the task, the end date was reduced to
half, yet, Dr.Sreedharan was able to accomplish
the unimagined, by completing the restoration
work in just 46 days and made the bridge
operational.

EDUCATION
his own purpose. He has been able to achieve
what no one before him could even have
imagined. His work with the DMRC has put the
name of Delhi’s metro rail facility on the world
map, at par with international standards.
Lesson 5: Let awards and accolades not affect
you, and similarly, let not criticism deter you.
We all love praise, but we forget that praise
and criticism are both meant to make us better,
provided we know how to take it in our stride.
When we meet with unjust criticism, let us not
become bitter but accept it as someone’s opinion.
Many awards and accolades have come his way,
but Dr.Sreedharan was never to be carried away.
He has been decorated with Padma Vibhushan,
second highest civilian award in India as well as
many other prestigious awards internationally.
But to this day, he remains a humble man whom
we have not seen much in the newspapers or

10

other media. He has silently toiled, without being
moved by praise or criticism.
I am sure that there will be many more lessons to
be learnt from Dr.Sreedharan. Hopefully we will
be able to hear them directly from Dr.Sridharan
when he visits Qatar in May 2014. Finally when
we left his home at 1 PM after spending more
than an hour with Dr. Sridharan, my heart was
so full with admiration to this great Engineer, a
great leader and above all a great human being…
may be one of the very few left from the bygone
Gandhian era. I am pleased to inform you that
we will be witnessing this great soul in Qatar in
May 2014 when we will be honouring him with
the prestigious “KEF Technocrat of the Year
Award”. I am sure we along with our families
will be able to listen & learn a lot from this extra
ordinary personality: the Metroman of India, Dr.
Elattuvalapil Sreedharan.

egend has it that the olive tree was a gift
from the goddess Athena to humanity.
Homer referred to olive oil as liquid gold,
and Thomas Jefferson proclaimed it the richest gift
of heaven. For centuries, a gift of olive oil was a
welcome treasure. Food-lovers have never entirely
forgotten the delightful golden fluid, but in recent
years, a new awareness of the benefits of olive oil
has been born. Science has turned its investigative
eye upon it in recent years, and numerous studies
have only reinforced the notion that olive oil is an
amazing substance with numerous benefits. Here
are 101 of them.
Olive oil can:
1. Make your arteries more elastic – Two
tablespoons daily makes you more resistant to
strokes and heart attack.
2. Reduce bad cholesterol levels – Olive oil
contains polyphenols, which help to keep your
levels of LDL cholesterol within healthy ranges.
3. Make you less hungry – Olive oil makes you feel
sated and tends to make you eat less and have
fewer sugar cravings.
4. Reduce the risk of stroke in the elderly through
yet another mechanism – Older people who ate

12

T i p s

diets rich in olive oil consumption, which contains
plasma oleic acid, had fewer strokes in a 2011
study.
5. Lower the risk of coronary heart disease in
women – Mediterranean cultures have long
revered the olive and its oil, with good reason. An
Italian study found that a diet that included olive
oil along with plenty of leafy vegetables and fruit
resulted in reduced rates of coronary heart disease
in women enrolled in the study.
6. Cure or reduce acne – Although it sounds
counterintuitive to use oil to fight pimples and
blackheads, using an olive oil and salt scrub helps
some types of acne.
7. Protect your red blood cells and therefore your
heart – Over time, cells oxidize, leading to the
common effects of aging. A specific polyphenol
in olive oil is especially effective at protecting
your red blood cells from oxidation. A 2009 study
identified this component as DHPEA-EDA.
8. Treat sunburn – Olive oil soothes the pain of
mild sunburn by helping skin retain its moisture.
Use equal parts olive oil and water in a tight-lidded
container. Shake well, then apply to mild sunburn.
Shake the mixture often during application to

ENGINEER - KEF TOASTMASTERS | MARCH 2014

HEALTH

keep it from separating.
9. Help fight breast cancer – Olive oil contains
phytochemicals, and a 2008 study found that they
are effecting at killing cancer cells and suppressing
cancer genes.
10. Improve your memory – Some research has
shown that olive oil can prevent and possibly
even reverse the memory loss that accompanies
Alzheimer’s disease.
11. Prevent heart attacks in men – A 2008 study
showed that men who ate at least two ounces of
olive oil reduced their chances of having a heart
attack by 82 percent as compared to men who ate
no olive oil.
12. Keep your lips soft and supple – Make your
own lip balm by combining olive oil with equal
parts beeswax. Put it into a small glass jar and
apply it with your fingertip.
13. Condition your hair – Ancient beauties and
warriors alike used olive oil to tame and beautify
their locks. Olive oil strengthens hair and makes it
more flexible.
14. Help you to stay healthier into old age – The
Mediterranean Diet has been proven to be one of
the healthiest in the world. Some consider it the
healthiest. Olive oil has always been an integral
part of the Mediterranean Diet. Although red
wine and lots of fish, whole grains, fruits and
vegetables also play a huge part in the diet’s
success, scientists agree that it wouldn’t be nearly
as beneficial without olive oil.

17. Provide an easy way to add minimally
processed food to your diet – Extra virgin olive
oil (EVOO) is unrefined. It is obtained by pressing
cold olives. All other oils that are readily available
to consumers must be refined using heat and
other harsh processes.
18. Clean sensitive skin – The Ancient Egyptians,
Greeks and Romans had no soap and didn’t miss
it thanks to olive oil. They massaged olive oil into
their skin, then scraped it back off, along with
dirt and dead skin. Today, a wide variety of soaps,
including some made from olive oil, are available.
Yet many people still prefer to clean their skin with
pure olive oil.
19. Remove paint from your skin – Olive oil gently
loosens paint on your skin. When you wipe away
the oil, the paint goes with it. Your skin will be left
soft, firm and smooth.
20. Make an inexpensive exfoliant that works
like the most expensive spa products available –
Exfoliating removes dead skin and prevents your
skin from becoming dull. Mix a palmful of olive oil
with a teaspoon of sugar or salt. Apply the mixture
to your skin, then massage gently.
21. Moisturize your skin – Olive oil is closer in
chemical structure to your skin’s natural oil than
any other naturally occurring oil. Use it as you
would a body, face and hand lotion.

22. Prevent your skin from aging prematurely –
The same antioxidant properties that keep your
red blood cells from oxidizing when you eat olive
oil keep your skin cells from oxidizing when you
apply it topically. The antioxidant hydroxytyrosol
and vitamin E help to prevent cell degeneration in
your skin.

16. Prevent middle-age spread – Because olive
oil is a calorie-dense food, it is often avoided out
of fear that it will cause weight gain. However,
a 2008 study showed that olive oil, along with
nut oils, did not cause weight gain the way less
healthy fats do.

23. Never clog your pores or cause pimples –
Olive oil penetrates the skin, leaving your skin
silky smooth with no greasy feeling. Cleopatra
undoubtedly had many costly beauty secrets up
her sleeve, but the most important of them can be
yours for the price of a small bottle of EVOO.

MARCH 2014 | KEF TOASTMASTERS

- ENGINEER

13

NEWS

M E ET I N G 8 1
--- by TM Gopu Rajasekhar

M

ost of us would have thought "How the
missing MH 370 can be the topic for a
Toastmaster meeting?"

Well, this was exactly what happened during the
81st meeting of KEF Toastmasters was held on 1703-2014 at the Telugu Cultural Centre (TCA).
The meeting started at 7.30 PM as per the agenda
after the members had a small Holi celebrations.
There were special sweets, thanks to TM Rajiv and
TM Manju.
Our Sergeant at Arms TM Rajiv started the
meeting with a powerful introduction. He
reminded the Mission and Vision of the club.
Quickly he handed over the stage to our ever
smiling President TM Abdul Wahid. The President
started by explaining the importance of observing
different days like International Women’s day on
March 8, World Kidney Day on March 13. Then
the President brought back the attention to the
present day and declared the meeting open.
He introduced the guest Mr. Swaraj Kumar and
gave a chance for him to introduce himself. He
also welcomed our new members to the club TM
Yogesh and TM Jouhar. He announced that KEF
Toastmasters has achieved Select Distinguished

14

Club status and thanked all the club members for
this feat. He also reminded that the next target is
President Distinguished Club status and urged the
identified members to work towards it within the
stipulated time frame.
Then the President invited the Toastmaster of the
Day TM Murugesan to take over the driving seat
of the meeting.
TM Murugesan started his proceedings as the
TMOD by introducing the topic of the meeting
“Missing of MH 370”. His confidence on the topic
was evident from the start. He started with the
series of events that is expected to have occurred
which has led to the missing of the flight from any
contact from the ground.
Keeping the audience still in the sky he quickly
moved on to introducing role players of the
meeting, Grammarian- TM Syed Mohsin, Ahcounter - TM Jouhar, Timer - TM Thanigaivelu. TM
Syed, the grammarian, introduced the word of the
day :- “ NEXUS" which meant connection or link.
Also per the request of the TMOD, each of the role
players gave their tips for safe travel in flights.

ENGINEER - KEF TOASTMASTERS | MARCH 2014

NEWS

Once the roles of grammarian, ah-counter and
timer were explained TMOD invited TM Gopu to
deliver his Ice breaker speech titled “ From the
darkness lead me to the light". TM Manju was
the evaluator for this speech. TM Gopu broke the
ice by giving a light on him by explaining his 3
role models of his life. However he said he finds
the qualities of his role models in his parents
and closed the speech thanking his parents and
teachers for bringing the light of knowledge into
his life.
Second speaker of the day was TM Ahnant with
his P2 speech “ Pudukkottai". TM Ahnant took the
audience to his home town Pudukkottai by his
confident speech delivery. It was also a thought
provoking one for all of us who are missing their
home town and innocence of villages. Most of
us would be missing those tranquil breezes and
calmness of our villages. TM Ahnant also didn’t
forget to invite us to his village. TM Ahnant was
evaluated by TM Rajiv.
Third speaker was none other than the President
himself who presented the poetry reading
technique. TM Wahid recited the famous poem “
Albatross” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The poem
tested the voice modulation and presentation
skills of the speaker. TM Najeeb was the evaluator
for TM Wahid.
The fourth speaker was TM Vijo with ACB topic
“Facilitating a brain storming session”. The topic
chosen was Why KEF Toastmasters haven’t
produced any Area Contest winners?
The session was a different experience for the
audience in a toastmaster meeting. This topic has

also been considered as an eye opener for the club
members for trying for Area contest winning, next
year. DTM Raghavan was the evaluator for TM
Vijo’s brain storming session.
Then came one of the most important session
of the meeting - Education module - How to
evaluate? by DTM Raghavan. Evaluation is the
best thing that you will get from a toastmasters.
DTM Raghavan gave tips and tricks for a good
evaluation. Also the don’ts that we should keep in
mind while we give an evaluation.
Then the TMOD continued with the explanation
on the flight electronics and possibilities of the
fate of MH 370. We all can hope that the flight is
safe including the passengers and crew in it.
The General Evaluator, TM Najumuddin delivered
his comments on the day's meeting and took
reports from the role players. All the speakers
completed their speeches within the stipulated
time limits and maintained good standards of
grammatical usages.
After the general evaluation President took back
the control and the meeting was adjourned.
The meeting concluded with a group photo.
Glimpses of KEF TM Meeting no. 81 prepared by
TM Gopu Rajasekhar-17th March 2014

Pray for

MH370

MARCH 2014 | KEF TOASTMASTERS

- ENGINEER

15

EDUCATION

Cure Your Fear
of

g
n
i
k
a
e
p
S
c
ubli

P
It's

almost impossible to be successful
in business presenting your ideas in
public to a group of people. Unfortunately, public
speaking makes three out of four people feel
nervous and anxious, making them less effective.
Not to worry. Here are six ways to cure that fear
and truly shine when you're at the podium.
1. Don't procrastinate.
If you let the anxiety keep you from thinking and
preparing, you're creating a self-fulfilling prophesy
of failure. The moment you know you'll be
presenting before an audience, start outlining and
thinking your presentation through.

to "Here's where they are today."
Arrange your argument in a logical sequence,
providing each point with both a visual
representation (bullet, graphic or photo) and one
or more facts that support that each part of your
argument.
There's a real sense of security that comes from
knowing that your speech makes sense and that
you've got facts to buttress and prove each point.
Having a "bulletproof" argument is like wearing
armor. You're safe, protected by the facts.

The more time (elapsed and actual) that you
spend preparing, the less time you'll spend
dreading the experience. Getting right onto the
project also give you more time to organize your
ideas and rehearse.

3. Start with an arresting fact.
The root of the fear of public speaking is the worry
that the audience is judging you. Not to freak
you out or anything, but they are indeed judging
you. However, in most cases, audiences decide in
the first 15 seconds whether or not you're worth
listening to.

2. Organize your argument.
The purpose of every speech and presentation is
to cause the audience to make a decision. Start
with that decision, write it down, and then move
backwards from "Here's where I want them to be"

Because of that, craft the first 15 seconds of your
speech so that it captures attention and proves
that your topic is important to the audience. To
do this, you begin with a fact or statistic that's
relevant and surprising.

16

ENGINEER - KEF TOASTMASTERS | MARCH 2014

EDUCATION

A strong start creates momentum. Furthermore,
seeing the audience (often literally) sit up and take
notice reduces anxiety, because now you've got
them in the palm of your hand. I discuss this in "15
Seconds to a Better Presentation."
4. Rehearse and visualize.
Fact: the emotional part of your mind can't
clearly differentiate between real and imagined
experiences. Because of this, you can make
yourself less nervous about an event by visualizing
it as a positive experience.
The best way to do this is to rehearse your talk,
while simultaneously imagining your audience
having a positive reaction to it. As you're
rehearsing, imagine how great you'll feel when
you know the audience "gets" what you're saying.
5. Test everything beforehand.
Whether you're aware of it or not, part of your
fear of public speaking is the nagging worry that
something outside your control might go wrong,
like a broken slide projector or a microphone
glitch.
Indeed, maybe you've seen (or worse experienced)
such problems. For example, at one keynote I

gave a while back, the high wattage projector in
the auditorium melted my plastic slides, leaving
me to proceed impromptu. It was nightmarish.
To reduce and eliminate this element of your fear,
check the meeting room setup and any equipment
you'll need twice: once long before the meeting
and then again just before the meeting takes
place.
6. Speak to individuals not the audience.
Finally, when you're actually presenting never
speak to the entire audience. Instead, pick out
an individual in the audience and speak directly
to him or her. Pretend everyone else is simply
overhearing a conversation.
Every time you move to another point or slide,
pick out a different person in the room and speak
directly to that person. It's harder to fear "public
speaking" when you're speaking a person, rather
than to the public!
As an added benefit, this technique (almost
magically) makes everyone in the audience feel as
if you were addressing them personally... even if
you never picked out that person to talk to! As a
result, your talk will be better received and more
memorable as well.

MARCH 2014 | KEF TOASTMASTERS

- ENGINEER

17

NEWS

KEF Toastmasters's presence
in the Area contest

--- by TM Gopu Rajasekhar

It

is with great proud KEF Toastmasters
had sent to two of its members TM
Jyothikumar and TM Rajiv for the Area
contest that was held on xx-Mar.
TM Jyothi represented KEF TM for the Humurous
speech, Evaluation speech and Table Topics; TM
Rajiv contested for the International speech.
The competition was of high standard and the
participants were equally competent. TM Jyothi
added two feathers to the KEF TM by getting
runner's up trophies for two of the speeches he
delivered. TM Rajiv gave a very powerful speech
with strong voice and confidence which was well
received by the audience.
TM Jyothi's humorous speech evolved and
revolved around the spirit that he has on having
spirit. The speech generated so much laughs from
the audience and he shared the sorrow of many in
the audience that they are in middle east where
alcohol is not so entertained. His evaluation was
on target and was bit different from the usual
sandwich technique that most TMs follow. Table
topics' competition was fast and furious. He
performed well in that too, making his presence in
the Area contest noteworthy. There was only one
participant who competed in three contests and
that was him...He deserves a lot of credit for his

18

hard work and determination.
TM Rajiv has always been a fighter, not a surprise
as he has the genes of one of the great warriors
that India has ever produced, none other than
Chathrapathi Sivaji. TM Rajiv's "Living a life for
others" had a blend of sweet essence of his life's
successes topped with the garnishing of his
father's and wife's happiness for fulfilling their
dreams. He almost fulfilled the dream of KEF
TM of going to District level. Don't forget that it
was his first appearance in the contests as most
of the audience wouldn't have felt because of his
confidence in speech delivery. One thing can be
assured TM Rajiv will fight till he succeed and sure
that next year he will come back equipped with a
new set of arrows and stronger bow to fight.
KEF TM not only contested but also played a major
role in the contest arrangement. DTM Raghavan
was the chief judge for the Table Topics contest.
TM Murugesan was the contest chair for the Table
Topics. TM Wahid, TM Mansoor, TM Gopu, TM
Naju played their roles for the contest.
KEF TM made sure that their new members were
given opportunity to showcase their talents and
leadership skills.

ENGINEER - KEF TOASTMASTERS | MARCH 2014

Area 12 Annual speech contest 2013-14

2013 Mar 12

MARCH 2014 | KEF TOASTMASTERS

- ENGINEER

19

NEWS

KEF Toastmasters becomes

" Select Distinguished Club "
--- by Abdul Wahid Ismail

On

behalf of the excom, I take the opportunity to inform you that our club has become
Select Distinguished Club! We have achieved this status by realizing 7 out of 10
Distinguished Club Program points.

NEWS
Our active and aggressive VP-E TM Ashish Mohandas was the man behind the scenes who has been
successfully planning the meetings ensuring the educational goals of each and every member is taken
care of and has motivated the members by working on his own CC completion while carrying out the
herculean task of Vice President Education. Well done Ashish!!
Our passionate VP-M TM Manju Madhu Santosh has left no stones unturned to ensure that the club
constantly welcomes new members aboard. We have had 8 new members joining our club which have
again contributed to the club growth and attaining 2 valuable DCP points. Welcome aboard TM Shrijit
Soman, TM Gopu Rajashekar, TM Krishnadas Surianarayan, TM Anit Pillai, TM Vinod Nagarajan, TM
Muhammad Jouhar K V , TM Yogesh Rupchand Pawar and TM Thanigaivelu Subramanian. She has
led the club to win the first membership campaign award – The Smedley Award for enrolling 5 new
members within September 2013 and is now all set to win the next membership building award – The
Talk up Toastmasters Award, by adding 5 more new members within 31st March 2014. Way to go… Vice
President Membership… Cheers for a wonderful effort!!
Our past acting treasurer TM Jyothikumar Chandran has been carefully maintaining our club accounts
and our present treasurer TM Gopu Rajashekar has been instrumental in calling each and every member
to confirm their April membership dues renewal. Based on the confirmations we have renewed the club
membership dues of all our members well ahead of time. Thank you TM Manzoor PM and the Division
Trio for helping us with the online payments on time and thereby help us play a significant role in
getting Division E to become President’s Distinguished Division!!
The journey does not end here. Our goal is the President’s Distinguished Club status. Let us all work
towards achieving it by doing our assignments well and supporting our fellow members do theirs.

MARCH 2014 | KEF TOASTMASTERS

- ENGINEER

21

INTERVIEW

10 Questions to a
Toastmasters Couple
Interview with Toastmaster Couple
TM Philip Cherian and TM Pavithra Philip
Question 1: What made you interested in joining
Toastmasters?
Reply TM Philip : I heard about toastmasters since
1996 but I joined toastmaster only in 2005 when
my company Ali Bin Ali started a corporate club
for its employees.
Reply TM Pavithra : From a very early age I was
interested in public speaking, I used to participate
in Elocutions both in School and College. It was
my husband’s inspiration, support made me to
join Toastmasters; in Ali Bin Ali Toastmasters Club,
the Corporate club.
Question 2: How many years have you been in
Toastmasters?
Reply TM Philip : I started as Sgt-at-arms,
moved on to VP Education and President of ABA
Toastmasters. I have completed 9 years and this
year I am the President of Filcom International
Toastmasters Club.
Reply TM Pavithra : It has been almost 8 years,
started the journey with my husband in Ali Bin Ali
Toastmasters. Later I joined ICC Eves Toastmasters
Club; presently serving the club as “President”.
Question 3: Who joined first- TM Philip or TM
Pavitra?
Reply TM Philip : I joined first but Pavithra often
accompanied me to ABA Toastmasters club
meetings and later joined in 2006.
Question 4: We would like to know how you
motivated the second person to join the club,
because this is what Toastmasters like us are really
eager to know ;)

22

Reply TM Philip : Pavithra actually was keen to
join toastmasters. She encouraged me to join
toastmasters but I did not have the courage to
join and found excuses to stay away. I ran out of
excuses when ABA formed the corporate club.
Reply TM Pavithra : Yes, I encouraged my husband
to join initially, later I joined in his Corporate club.
Question 5: Can you please tell us the impact of
toastmaster activities in your lives....after being in
Toastmasters for these many years (please advice
how many years)?
Reply TM Philip : Toastmasters transformed
me in many ways. It gave me courage to speak
to an audience, rekindled my reading habits
and encouraged to explore my writing skills.
To a s t m a s t e r s a l s o h e l p e d m e t o d ev e l o p
leadership skills. The confidence that I
gained helped me to take up various roles in
Toastmasters, in my community and at office.
Reply TM Pavithra : As mentioned earlier, it has
been almost 8 years; the trainings, the exposure
through Toastmasters helped me to listen,
understand, acknowledge people in a better
way. It helped me in improving the writing skills,
boosted confidence to communicate well whether
it is in office or with friends.
Question 6: Please share with us the happiest
moments that you felt being a Toastmaster?
Did your wife/husband being in Toastmasters
help you to be a better Toastmaster/ to be more
committed?
Reply TM Philip : I am happy when I am able
to entertain the audience and helping fellow

ENGINEER - KEF TOASTMASTERS | MARCH 2014

INTERVIEW

toastmasters. Since we are both toastmasters, we
are able to support and help each other.
Reply TM Pavithra : As mentioned by Philip,
whenever possible we attend meetings together,
we evaluate, motivate each other. Thus we create
happiness through Toastmastering.
Question 7: Since both of you are in Toastmasters,
are you interested in discussing about Toastmaster
club and its activities during your free hoursamong yourselves, to your children or others
during non toastmaster occasions ?
Reply TM Philip : The topic of toastmasterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pops
up very often.
Reply TM Pavithra : Yes, Indeed, the topic often
pops up, we encourage others to join Toastmasters
and set an example.
Question 8: Are your children into Toastmasters?
Do they help you with your activities? What do
they say about your continuous commitment to
this area of skills development?
Re p l y T M P h i l i p : A n j a l i i s 13 y e a r s . S h e
accompanies us to toastmasters meetings and
contest. She prefers to be a good listener.
Reply TM Pavithra : Anjali is not living in Qatar.
When she comes for holidays she comes along

with us for meetings, contests. I am sure she
enjoys as much as we do.
Question 9: Being a family man/woman how do
you manage your time for yourself, family, work,
Toastmasters and other social commitments. How
do you strike a balance of activities in your daily
life routines?
Reply TM Philip : It is difficult to answer on striking
a balance. I believe, so far I have managed to find
time.
Reply TM Pavithra : Personally I sacrifice few
other social activities for which I do not have any
regrets. As a working mother, I would say it is
difficult, since both of us are in Toastmasters we
are able to manage so far.
Question 10: Do you get free time? How do you
spend your leisure time, if you manage to get
some?
Reply TM Philip : Yes, we do find time for long
drives, window shopping, dreaming and visiting
various destinations.
Reply TM Pavithra : same as Philip says, as we
share the passion for Toastmasters, we share the
passion for lifeâ&#x20AC;Ś

MARCH 2014 | KEF TOASTMASTERS

- ENGINEER

23

EDUCATION

How to Improve
Public Speaking Skills

P

ublic speaking skills can be a hassle if
you are insecure or introvert. However, a
little bit of a practice and a little boost of
confidence can heal the problem that many have
when it comes to public speaking.
Here are 7 steps that you can try.

1. Be well prepared. Practice your speech in front
of the mirror and bring little notes with you just
in case. After all, it's better to have to look down
at your paper quickly rather than stand there
completely tongue-tied.

2. Breathe deeply, before you begin. It isn't as
hard as it seems. Take a deep breath.

3. Organize your thoughts, and draw a mental
picture of what comes after what. You will stutter
if you run out of things to say, so it's important to
have a mental outline. You can practice drawing up
forms of your speech or remembering the order of
your topics at home.

24

4. Be sure to make a thesis or to have a point.
There's nothing worse than getting nervous about
a speech that wasn't worth it.

5. Start your speech by making that point, and
then give a brief outline of your examples and
other evidences that you plan to use to prove
your thesis. Sometimes a bit of comedy can help
settle the nerves. Be creative!

6. Slowly, visualize your examples and tell them
one by one. Don't be afraid to add more examples
on the go or add little details, since they make
your presentation much more personal. Make
sure to walk around a little- but not too much,
look your audience in the eye, and use facial and
hand expressions. Speeches get very boring very
fast if you stand in front of people like a deer in
headlights.

In the Humorous speech titled "Mom & Me" was Humorously delivered by Gav.Dany.
In the Table Topics Speech, Gav.Rose gave a fantastic speech on the topic : "If you are right no one
remembers, if you are wrong no one forgets".
In Evaluation Contest, Gav. Annanya gave constructive criticism and helpful tips for improvement.
In International Speech, Gav Manasi delivered a beautiful speech on "Walk a mile in another's
shoes".
Gav.Dany won the 2nd Runner up in the Humorous speech category.
Please join me in congratulating Gav. Dany on this glorious achievement.
Special thanks to KEF Gavel Club Founder and Mentor, DTM Raghavan for his Mentoring and
Leadership.
Also special thanks to Gav. Devika and Gav. Ishita for their performance as Master of Ceremony and
Contest chair for Table topic contest.

26

ENGINEER - KEF TOASTMASTERS | MARCH 2014

Gaveliers Corner

MARCH 2014 | KEF TOASTMASTERS

- ENGINEER

27

Gaveliers Corner

--by Gav. Danys

28

ENGINEER - KEF TOASTMASTERS | MARCH 2014

2013-14

--- by Sybille Sajeet

T

he KEF Gavel Club Annual speech
contest-2014 (Part 1) was conducted on
17-Feb-2014.

We had 12 International speeches. Most of the
speeches were exceptionally high quality and
judges had tough time deciding the winners.
Following were announced winners for
International Speech Contest:
First Place - Gav. Manasi Tomy
Second Place - Gav. Rose Mibu
Third Place - Gav. Anna Antony
Special thanks to all role players, contestants
and judges for their active involvement and for
keeping their commitment.
Congratulations to the winners and for all
contestants who have actively participated in
the above contests.
Our special thanks to our distinguished judgesTM Thayalan Kailayapillai, TM Gil Bangalan, TM
Philip Cherian, TM N V Raghavan, TM Rukhsana
Khan, TM Seymur Rasulov, TM Sarita Jacob, for
providing us your valuable time and unbiased
judgments.
.
The First place winner will be representing our
club in Div E contest to be held on 4-April-2014.
Contest for Humorous, Table Topics and
Evaluation will be held on 24-March-2014.

VISION OF THE CLUB
To become the best Toastmasters Club in the Division by achieving the Toastmasters International,
District, ivision & Area Goals

MISSION OF THE CLUB
The mission of the KEF Toastmasters Club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning
environment in which every individual member has the opportunity to develop oral communication
and leadership skills, which in turn foster self confidence and personal growth.

••
••
••

A TOASTMASTER’S PROMISE

To attend club meetings regularly
To prepare all of my speeches to the best of my ability, basing them on projects in the
Communication and Leadership Program manuals
To provide fellow members with helpful and constructive evaluations
To help the club maintain the positive, friendly environment necessary for all members to
learn and grow
To serve my club as an officer when called on to do so
To adhere to the guidelines and rules for all Toastmasters educational and recognition
programs